The Chronicle of Morea Historiography in Crusader Greece

The Chronicle of Morea, one of the most important and controversial historical narratives written in the late Middle Ages, tells the story of the formation and government by the Villehardouin dynasty of a remarkably successful Crusader State following the conquest by western invaders of the capital - Constantinople - and the provinces of the Byzantine Empire. By examining all the Chronicle's surviving Greek, French, Spanish and Italian versions, this study, the first of its kind, explores in depth the literary and ideological contexts in which the work was composed, transmitted and re-written. The result is a fascinating analysis of cultural exchange in a rich and vibrant eastern Mediterranean world where different ethnicities were obliged to live alongside each other, and outside political interests frequently intruded in dramatic fashion. Translations into English have been provided of all the material discussed.

Teresa Shawcross is Schulman Research Fellow in History, Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.

IntroductionI. Composition, Transmission, and Reception1. The Versions2. The Sources3. The Literary World: Context and CirculationII. Narrative Technique: Orality and LiteracyIntroduction4. Structure5. Speech Acts6. Voice7. Tense-SwitchingConclusionsIII. Ideology: Conquerors and ConqueredIntroduction8. Greeks and Latins: Ethno-Religious Identity9. Imagining the Principality of Morea: A National History10. The Rise of Vernacular Greek Historiography in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean11. The Principality of Morea in Crisis: An Identity CompromisedConclusionsGeneral ConclusionSelected Passages from the Chronicle of Morea